This invention relates generally to electronic circuit cards (boards) and more specifically relates to visual indicators that provide information concerning the status of conditions or functions of an associated electronic circuit card.
Electronic circuit cards are generally well known. One common type of electronic circuit card is designed to be inserted into an electronic rack or shelf and has rear edge connectors that engage corresponding connectors on a backplane. Because of the force that must be applied to the electronic circuit card to disengage its rear edge connectors, various types of ejector handles mounted to a front panel of the electronic circuit card have been utilized to provide additional mechanical leverage. A substantial number of electronic circuit cards are typically contained in a shelf. An enclosure may contain a plurality of shelves thereby holding a large number of electronic circuit cards.
An important design consideration of electronic circuit cards is the ability to convey to maintenance personnel information concerning the status of conditions and/or functions of the electronic circuit card. This information is typically conveyed by the use of visual indicators, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), mounted to the front panel of the electronic circuit card. Some cards may also utilize front panel mounted connectors used to connect the card via a multiple wire cable to other electronics. The front panel may also contain a plurality of switches, jacks, and openings to permit adjustments and selections to be made by maintenance personnel. The various status indicators and controls must be highly visible and unambiguous in order to reduce the chances of craft errors, such as removing the wrong card, from adversely affecting system reliability.
The front panels of some electronic circuit cards are becoming congested. The use of mezzanine boards, also known daughter boards, places additional demands on the need for the faceplate space of the electronic circuit cards. The increasing congestion places constraints on the number of visual indicators that can be accommodated and on locations where the visual indicators can be placed. An additional consideration associated with the visual indicators is the text or symbol that serves as a label and is normally screen printed on the front panel adjacent each indicator. The label may occupy more area on the front panel than the indicator itself. Various identifying labels containing information about manufacturers, model numbers, serial numbers, and barcodes further congest the front panel. With increasingly less space available on the front panel of electronic circuit cards, there exists a need for better utilization of space used for visual indicators.
It is an object of the present invention to satisfy the need for better utilization of space for visual indicators associated with electronic circuit cards.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an ejector handle adjacent to the front of the faceplate mounted to an electronic circuit card transmits light received at an end of the handle adjacent the faceplate to a distal end of the handle that is disposed to be seen by maintenance personnel with the electronic circuit card in operation. The light may be transmitted by a first light pipe that terminates at the distal end of the handle at a lens or frosted end of the light pipe to enhance the visibility and/or dispersion of transmitted light A second light pipe aligned to transmit light to the first light pipe couples light emitted from a light source on the printed circuit card. A plurality of first and second light pipes permits the ejector handle to carry a plurality of visual indicators. Labels associated with the visual indicators can be placed on a surface of the ejector handle in proximity to the visual indicator.